Southshore beach takes on orange hue as tiny marine creatures wash ashore
A Christchurch beach has taken on a striking bright orange tinge after millions of tiny marine creatures washed ashore.
Resident Moreen Sackree was taking a stroll on Southshore beach in South New Brighton about 10am on Tuesday, when she came across what she believed were millions of “little krill or squat lobsters”.
“I came across an orange beach – something I've never seen [before].”
Sackree said many of the marine creatures appeared to be dead and were “quite dense” in some areas.
“I tried to put them back into the water but there was just so many there it didn't seem like it was making a difference, it was definitely a rare sight to see.”
Another beach goer, Eve Driver, said when she came across the swarm about 6pm on Tuesday, none of them were alive and many had been buried under the sand.
“The seagulls were going crazy and there was lots of red bird poo.”
Marine ecologist John Pirker, from the University of Canterbury, said the tiny creatures appeared to be gregarious squat lobster – a small crustacean that feeds on the ocean floor.
Squat lobsters generally move in large swarms along the eastern coast of the South Island.
They swam inshore to breed after completing their “larval cycle”, and settled in shallow waters – usually between October and May each year.
Poll: If we want to reduce speeding, what do you think actually changes driver behaviour? 🛻🚨🚓
In the Post's article on speeding penalties, the question is asked whether speeding fines are truly about road safety, or are they just a way to boost revenue for the Crown?
What do you think? Should speeding motorists receive speeding fines or demerit points?
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37.2% The sting of a fine (Money talks!)
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62.8% The threat of demerit points (Nobody wants to lose their license!)
International Working Women's Day (8 March),
NATIONWIDE: Friday 6 March
GO PURPLE FOR PAY EQUITY
Some Choice News!
DOC is rolling out a new tool to help figure out what to tackle first when it comes to protecting our threatened species and the things putting them at risk.
Why does this matter? As Nikki Macdonald from The Post points out, we’re a country with around 4,400 threatened species. With limited time and funding, conservation has always meant making tough calls about what gets attention first.
For the first time, DOC has put real numbers around what it would take to do everything needed to properly safeguard our unique natural environment. The new BioInvest tool shows the scale of the challenge: 310,177 actions across 28,007 sites.
Now that we can see the full picture, it brings the big question into focus: how much do we, as Kiwis, truly value protecting nature — and what are we prepared to invest to make it happen?
We hope this brings a smile!
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